The event was called Bonjour Bawtry and a total of 20 teams were involved, including one formed by a group of former Doncaster Star advertising sales girls.

Riders pedalled as fast as they could for each 10-minute session and the winners were the team who travelled the furthest.

Between them the cyclists notched up around 1,200 miles.

Peter Bradley, Aurora campaign manager, was among those organising the event which is expected to have raised around £5,000.

His daughter Becky, a former Doncaster Star sales girl, was among those at the pedals.

He said even a bride on her way to her wedding with her bridesmaids stopped off to have a go on the bike and those taking part ranged from teenagers to people aged in their 70s. Peter told The Star: “People absolutely loved it, and we’re looking to do it again next year.”

Liz Jackson, another of the former Doncaster Star ad girls taking part, in a team called East Riders, is no stranger to exercise, but reckoned the 20 minutes in the saddle for the Aurora fundraiser was one of her toughest challenges.

Liz, who works for a physiotherapists in Bircotes, has run the London marathon in the past, as well as several half marathons.

She said: “The bike was really hard to pedal – it was really tough and to be honest I think I would rather run a marathon than pedal like that for 20 minutes again.

“I managed to pedal the equivalent of 11km in 20 minutes and I was rather pleased with that, because it was really hard to move the pedals.

“I managed the longest distance in our team, but we all did really well.

“The main thing is that we all managed to raise lots of money for a really worthwhile charity,” she added.